What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program
The impact of migration on food security and child health is likely to differ depending on whether children themselves migrate or whether they remain behind while other household members migrate. However, existing studies have not been able to examine how impacts differ in these two scenarios becaus...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | EN |
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2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5773 |
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okr-10986-57732021-04-23T14:02:23Z What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program Gibson, John McKenzie, David Stillman, Steven Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis D120 Health Production I120 Demographic Trends and Forecasts General Migration J110 Marriage Marital Dissolution Family Structure Domestic Abuse J120 Fertility Family Planning Child Care INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children Youth J130 The impact of migration on food security and child health is likely to differ depending on whether children themselves migrate or whether they remain behind while other household members migrate. However, existing studies have not been able to examine how impacts differ in these two scenarios because parallel data are required for both the sending and receiving country. Moreover, self-selection into migration makes unbiased estimation of either impact difficult. We overcome these problems by using a unique survey of Tongan households that applied to migrate to New Zealand through a migrant quota which selects households through a random ballot. This survey covers both migrant children in New Zealand and non-migrant children in Tonga, with the migration policy rules providing a source of exogenous variation for identifying impacts. Our estimates of short-run impacts show that diets diverge upon migration: children who migrate experience improvements, while diets worsen for children who remain. There is also suggestive evidence of a divergence in health outcomes, with increases in weight-for-age and height-for-age found for migrant children, and decreases found for children who remain behind while other household members migrate. 2012-03-30T07:34:28Z 2012-03-30T07:34:28Z 2011 Journal Article Food Policy 03069192 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5773 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article New Zealand |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
EN |
| topic |
Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis D120 Health Production I120 Demographic Trends and Forecasts General Migration J110 Marriage Marital Dissolution Family Structure Domestic Abuse J120 Fertility Family Planning Child Care INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children Youth J130 |
| spellingShingle |
Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis D120 Health Production I120 Demographic Trends and Forecasts General Migration J110 Marriage Marital Dissolution Family Structure Domestic Abuse J120 Fertility Family Planning Child Care INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children Youth J130 Gibson, John McKenzie, David Stillman, Steven What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| geographic_facet |
New Zealand |
| relation |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo |
| description |
The impact of migration on food security and child health is likely to differ depending on whether children themselves migrate or whether they remain behind while other household members migrate. However, existing studies have not been able to examine how impacts differ in these two scenarios because parallel data are required for both the sending and receiving country. Moreover, self-selection into migration makes unbiased estimation of either impact difficult. We overcome these problems by using a unique survey of Tongan households that applied to migrate to New Zealand through a migrant quota which selects households through a random ballot. This survey covers both migrant children in New Zealand and non-migrant children in Tonga, with the migration policy rules providing a source of exogenous variation for identifying impacts. Our estimates of short-run impacts show that diets diverge upon migration: children who migrate experience improvements, while diets worsen for children who remain. There is also suggestive evidence of a divergence in health outcomes, with increases in weight-for-age and height-for-age found for migrant children, and decreases found for children who remain behind while other household members migrate. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Gibson, John McKenzie, David Stillman, Steven |
| author_facet |
Gibson, John McKenzie, David Stillman, Steven |
| author_sort |
Gibson, John |
| title |
What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| title_short |
What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| title_full |
What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| title_fullStr |
What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| title_full_unstemmed |
What Happens to Diet and Child Health When Migration Splits Households? Evidence from a Migration Lottery Program |
| title_sort |
what happens to diet and child health when migration splits households? evidence from a migration lottery program |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5773 |
| _version_ |
1764396250302513152 |